"AUSTRALIAN STATES AND TERRITORIES NEED TO ESTABLISH CRIMINAL CASE REVIEW COMMITTEES OF THE TYPE USED IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. THESE BODIES HAVE THE LEGAL, FORENSIC AND SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE AND RESOURCES TO REVIEW CASES WHERE INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR LAWYERS ARGUE THAT THEY HAVE BEEN WRONGFULLY CONVICTED. IN AUSTRALIA IT CAN TAKE YEARS AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN EXPENSES ON THE PART OF INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR FAMILIES TO GET THE AUTHORITIES TO ALLOW A PERSON TO HAVE ANOTHER DAY IN COURT……IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA, LAWYERS AND SUPPORTERS OF HENRY KEOGH HAVE BEEN FIGHTING HIS MURDER CONVICTION SINCE 1995. EXPERT EVIDENCE HAS CAST CONSIDERABLE DOUBT ON THE MEDICAL EVIDENCE USED BY THE PROSECUTION IN THAT CASE. KEOGH’S LEGAL TEAM HAS JUST LODGED ITS FOURTH SUBMISSION WITH THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN GOVERNOR SEEKING TO HAVE THEIR CLIENT RELEASED AND HIS CONVICTION OVERTURNED."
GREG BARNES: CRIKEY DAILY MAIL;
(CRIKEY DAILY MAIL IS A FEISTY WEB PUBLICATION WHICH TELLS ITS READERS THAT IT AIMS "TO BRING ITS READERS THE INSIDE WORD ON WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON IN POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, MEDIA, BUSINESS, THE ARTS, SPORT AND OTHER ASPECTS OF PUBLIC LIFE IN AUSTRALIA. CRIKEY REVEALS HOW THE POWERFUL OPERATE BEHIND THE SCENES, AND IT TACKLES THE STORIES INSIDERS ARE TALKING ABOUT BUT OTHER MEDIA CAN’T OR WON’T COVER.")
PHOTO: FARAH JAMA AND LAWYER;
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BACKGROUND: According to the Australian, Farah Jama was found guilty of raping a 40-year-old woman at a nightclub in Melbourne's outer-eastern suburbs after the victim was found unconscious. She had no memory of the crime but Mr Jama's DNA was later found on the victim. The then 20-year-old denied ever being near the nightclub on that night, saying he was reading the Koran to his critically ill father at his bedside in their home in the northern suburbs. The only evidence police had was the DNA sample of Mr Jama, which was coincidentally taken 24 hours before the alleged crime after he was investigated over another unrelated matter but not charged. Prosecutors told the Victoria Court of Appeal earlier this week that it had since been discovered that the same forensic medical officer who took the first DNA sample of Mr Jama had coincidently taken the DNA sample from the 40-year-old rape complainant 24 hours later. They said it had emerged that the officer had not adhered to strict procedure when taking the sample and therefore they could not “exclude the possibility” of contamination. Therefore they argued the guilty verdict was unsafe and satisfactory and should be quashed. His lawyer Kimani Adil Boden hailed a “momentous” day for Mr Jama, whose case he described as “tragic”. “He's been in custody for close to one-and-a-half years on charges he didn't commit. “Justice has finally been done, however, at a price.” Victoria's police chief responded to Mr. Jama's release by banning all forensic officers from submitting DNA evidence or providing statements to the courts until further notice.
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"Farah Jama is a very lucky man," the December 8, 2009 post by Greg Barns begins, under the heading "Australia needs criminal case review committees."
The justice system, which had failed him so appallingly up to now, has finally got it right with the overturning yesterday by the Victorian Court of Appeal of his conviction for rape," the post continues.
"The 22-year-old has spent 16 months in jail after he was convicted by a jury on the basis of tainted DNA evidence.
But while Jama is today rightly celebrating his freedom and presumably preparing to mount a compensation claim for the injustice he has endured, there are thousands of other individuals behind bars or living in the community with a wrongful conviction hanging over their heads.
Australian states and territories need to establish criminal case review committees of the type used in England and Scotland. These bodies have the legal, forensic and scientific expertise and resources to review cases where individuals and their lawyers argue that they have been wrongfully convicted.
In Australia it can take years and thousands of dollars in expenses on the part of individuals and their families to get the authorities to allow a person to have another day in court.
I have had direct experience of this in Tasmania. I acted for a man who had been found guilty of murder, partly on the basis of the evidence of the government pathologist. He and his family refused to accept the verdict and spent thousands of dollars in obtaining four independent pathologist reports, all of which disagreed with the government pathologist’s findings. We spent thousands of hours drafting submissions to the state government on the matter over a three-year period, only to have it rejected by the Attorney-General.
In South Australia, lawyers and supporters of Henry Keogh have been fighting his murder conviction since 1995. Expert evidence has cast considerable doubt on the medical evidence used by the prosecution in that case. Keogh’s legal team has just lodged its fourth submission with the South Australian Governor seeking to have their client released and his conviction overturned.
In most Australian states, some law schools have established Innocence Projects. Staffed by law students, academics and relying on the pro bono help from practising lawyers, these bodies, through no fault of their own, have had little success in helping innocent people have their convictions overturned. They lack resourcing from universities, government, the legal profession and get zero co-operation from investigating authorities. I tried to get such a project up and running at the University of Tasmania Law School a few years ago but to say the dean was less than interested would be an understatement.
So the long and short of it is that in Australia proving that you have been wrongfully convicted is difficult, expensive and drags on for years. All good reasons for the government to step in and establish criminal case review commissions.
The UK Commission and its Scottish equivalent are independent of government. The UK Criminal Case Review Commission has, according to figures published by The Guardian in March this year, reviewed more than 11,600 cases since it was established in 1997 and of those it has sent 385 of back to the court of appeal, which has then overturned 273 convictions. In Scotland 92% of cases it has referred back to the courts in the past 10 years because of doubts about a person’s conviction have resulted in that person having their conviction overturned.
The criminal justice system in Australia is fallible and innocent people go to jail. Governments are all too willing to spend money on police and prosecutors to ensure more convictions but they are coy about protecting the innocent. Jama’s case is the tip of the iceberg."
The post can be found at:
http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/12/08/australia-needs-criminal-case-review-committees/
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
